Nicola Sturgeon prohibits non-essential travel as Delta variant spreads through north of England
Nicola Sturgeon has imposed a travel ban between Scotland and Manchester and Salford as a result of rising Covid cases.
The restrictions, which will come into force from Monday, add to travel limits put in place last month as the Delta variant spread rapidly through the north of England.
Continue reading...National Trust for Scotland presents exploration of intimacy from 17th to 20th century
The chafing doesn’t bear thinking about. A replica linen condom secured with a dainty blue ribbon is one of the more wince-inducing props for a new exploration of the history of sex and intimate lives in Scotland.
The other material used to fashion prophylactics in the 17th century was animal gut, which was dried then rehydrated at the crucial moment. The Edinburgh-born diarist James Boswell writes about dipping one in a river before intercourse. He was adamant about their use to ward off venereal disease, but still recorded numerous painful bouts of infection in his journals.
Continue reading...Analysis: the leader of the DUP in Northern Ireland has quit after just 21 days in the job
Edwin Poots has resigned as leader of the Democratic Unionist party after just 21 days in the job. What has prompted the latest dramatic development in the leadership of Northern Ireland’s biggest party?
Continue reading...Industry body says analysis of HMRC data shows structural rather than teething problems with Brexit
British food and drink exports to the EU fell by £2bn in the first three months of 2021, with sales of dairy products plummeting by 90%, according to an analysis of HMRC data.
Brexit checks, stockpiling and Covid have been blamed for much of the downturn, but the sector has said the figures show structural rather than teething problems with the UK’s departure from the EU.
Continue reading...Babis Anagnostopoulos had claimed robbers killed Caroline Crouch, 20, who was found dead next to her baby
The husband of a young British woman supposedly killed during a robbery at their Greek home and whose body was found next to her baby has confessed to the crime, police said on Thursday.
Babis Anagnostopoulos, a 32-year-old pilot, was taken by police helicopter to Athens on Thursday from the island of Alonissos, where he was attending a memorial service for his wife, Caroline Crouch. He confessed several hours later, the police said in a tweet.
Continue reading...Leadership drama in Northern Ireland’s biggest party could sink the power-sharing assembly at Stormont
Edwin Poots has resigned as leader of the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) after colleagues rebelled over a deal to revive the Northern Ireland assembly, triggering a new political crisis in the region.
Poots quit on Thursday night after just 21 days in the job, the latest drama in a leadership meltdown in Northern Ireland’s biggest party that could sink the power-sharing assembly at Stormont.
Continue reading...Research found marked differences in immune response of medical staff six months after contracting virus
Previous infection with coronavirus does not necessarily protect against Covid in the longer term, especially when caused by new variants of concern, a study on healthcare workers suggests.
Researchers at Oxford University found marked differences in the immune responses of medical staff who contracted Covid, with some appearing far better equipped than others to combat the disease six months later.
Continue reading...Analysis: Lockdown extension brings questions on when and how UK can draw a line under social distancing
The Commons vote to delay step four of England’s roadmap out of lockdown has focused attention on when and how the country can draw a line under social distancing and, in the words of the prime minister, “learn to live with the virus”.
While the surge in cases in Blackburn – one of the original Delta variant hotspots – may have peaked for now, Public Health England expects recent rises in the north-west to be mirrored across the UK. What that means for hospitals and lives will become clearer in the next four weeks.
Continue reading...Westminster-backed deal to legislate for Irish language protections saves Northern Ireland executive from collapse
Sinn Féin will nominate Michelle O’Neill as deputy first minister at Stormont after the party president, Mary Lou McDonald, said she received a commitment from the UK government to legislate for Irish language protections at Westminster.
McDonald earlier said she was going to meet the Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis, as her party and the DUP attempted to avert a fresh political crisis at Stormont.
Continue reading...Figures from the jobs website Indeed expose the impact on employers as they struggle to recruit staff
The number of EU citizens searching for work in Britain has fallen by more than a third since Brexit, according to a study that exposes the impact on UK employers as they struggle to recruit staff.
Figures from the jobs website Indeed show searches by EU-based jobseekers for work in the UK were down by 36% in May from average levels in 2019. Low-paid jobs in hospitality, the care sector and warehouses recorded the biggest declines at 41%.
Continue reading...The health secretary tells the House of Commons that the spread of the variant led the government to delay step four of its roadmap for easing restrictions in England. He said it spread more easily than the Alpha variant, and that there was some evidence that the risk of hospital admission was also higher
Continue reading...Infections in England’s worst-affected council area fall steadily since 7 June, says PHE
Covid cases in Blackburn with Darwen, the local authority with England’s highest infection rate, have peaked, Public Health England figures indicate.
PHE data shows a total of 897 cases in Blackburn with Darwen for the seven days to 10 July, giving the town a rolling rate of 599 cases per 100,000 people.
Continue reading...High court ruling leaves open possibility of criminal involvement, in victory for family
A Malaysian court has overturned the findings of an inquest into the death of the French-Irish teenager Nora Anne Quoirin, stating that the coroner was wrong to conclude she died as a result of misadventure.
The high court judge Azizul Azmi Adnan instead issued an open verdict, which does not rule out the possibility of criminal involvement and could pave the way for further investigations into her disappearance.
Continue reading...Irish deputy PM’s remarks ‘unhelpful and ill-advised’, says Northern Ireland secretary
The British government has rebuked Ireland’s deputy prime minister, Leo Varadkar, for saying he believed there could be a united Ireland within his lifetime.
Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland secretary, told the Commons on Wednesday the comments were “unhelpful and ill-advised”.
Continue reading...British tourists face continued restrictions as bloc opens up to other vaccinated travellers
British tourists face continued restrictions on travelling to the EU this summer even as the bloc opens up to others, including residents of the United States.
Eight countries are to be added to a list of countries from where the EU says non-essential travel is safe, but the UK has not been included.
Continue reading...WhatsApp message published by former aide reveals prime minister’s scathing verdict on health secretary
Boris Johnson described Matt Hancock as “totally fucking hopeless” during the early stages of the pandemic, concerned by the health secretary’s promises on testing, text messages published by Dominic Cummings have revealed.
Writing on Substack, the prime minister’s former chief aide published a slew of texts and documents from emergency Cobra meetings that he said would combat what he called “lies” from Downing Street and the health secretary about the initial handling of the pandemic.
Continue reading...Brexit minister Lord Frost asks for ‘a bit of breathing space’ to negotiate deal and head off trade war
The UK has asked the EU to suspend an imminent ban on the sale of British sausages in Northern Ireland to give both sides “breathing space” to negotiate an agreement on the Brexit protocol and avert a trade war.
Lord Frost, the Brexit minister, was speaking days after Boris Johnson warned he would do “whatever it takes” to protect Northern Ireland’s position as part of the UK.
Continue reading...Racegoers have returned to Royal Ascot for the first time since the pandemic began. Punters dressed in outlandish hats, summer dresses, smart suits and masks will cheer on the jockeys over the next four days at the Berkshire race course
Oxford University trial reports cocktail of manmade antibodies reduces fatalities by a fifth
A new drug has been found to cut Covid deaths by a fifth among the sickest patients in hospital and may change official practice so that every patient with coronavirus will have an antibody test before they are admitted.
The Recovery trial based at Oxford University has found a third drug that can help Covid patients recover in hospital – but this one is the first to tackle the virus itself, rather than the inflammation that develops in the later stages of the disease.
Continue reading...Channel 4 News uncovered allegations socialite groomed young women and girls in UK for Jeffrey Epstein
Scotland Yard has said it will review allegations that British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell trafficked, groomed and abused women and girls in the UK.
Maxwell, 59, the former girlfriend of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and other charges in the US over her alleged role in procuring four teenage girls for Epstein to abuse between 1994 and 2004. She is currently in a US prison awaiting trial after proceedings were delayed until autumn.
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